Danica Patrick might not run next year's Indy 500 but wants to compete in that race someday. / Paul Connors, AP

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Even if she weren't to run the Indianapolis 500 next season, Danica Patrick still has unfinished business in an Indy car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I'd like to do it," she told USA TODAY Sports before Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway. "I think it would be a huge thing as far as to say something that I've done, and I think it would be something that if I did it, it would be because I had a chance to win.

"That's great because it's Indy. I've come close. It would be nice to finish that off. I always thought I'd win there. If I don't, no regrets. I've had great races there. I've had a great track record."

Patrick became the first woman to lead the Indy 500 when she finished fourth as a rookie in 2005. She has six top-10s in seven starts at Indy with a career-best third in 2009.

The Associated Press reported Saturday that several people familiar with Patrick's plans said she wouldn't attempt to run the 2013 Indy 500 because it would detract from her full-time move into the Spritn Cup Series. Patrick said Sunday there was "nothing to report on yet" when asked about the AP story.

Earlier this season, she said her management team was trying to structure a deal that would allow her to become the fourth driver to run the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, joining John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart, her NASCAR team owner.

In running the No. 10 in NASCAR's premier series next year for Stewart-Haas Racing, Patrick hopes to remain active in the Nationwide Series, too. She has run on the NASCAR junior circuit since 2010 and has posted two top-10s in the past three races.

"I'd like to basically flip the schedule from this year to next year and do full-time Cup and do 10-14 Nationwide races," she said. "I'd like to do a slew of them. The big tracks, tracks I feel I have a shot to win and tracks I feel I need the track time. So we'll look at the schedules and see what works."

IMG senior vice president Mark Dyer, who represents Patrick, said Patrick doesn't need to run the series to maintain her endorsement contract with title sponsor Nationwide Insurance.

"But even if she didn't have a deal, she'd want to do it," Dyer told USA TODAY Sports. "She loves driving that series, especially (restrictor-plate tracks) Daytona and Talladega. We'll be talking about what races will enhance the Cup side the most. Nationwide is a big partners of hers, so she'd like to maintain a presence in the series that really gave her the start in NASCAR."